Mobile commerce is no longer just an afterthought. It’s the core of how consumers interact with brands. In 2024, mobile transactions accounted for nearly half of all e-commerce revenue, which is expected to increase significantly in 2025. So, while consumers expect seamless experiences across devices, marketers must ensure they deliver a seamless experience and implement tracking and attribution that support accurate, persistent tracking amidst the rise in mobile-first behaviors.

The Challenge of Mobile Attribution

Traditional web tracking models often do not translate well to mobile environments. App-based transactions introduce complexities that standard cookie-based tracking can’t capture. Without a straightforward way to track mobile events, brands risk losing visibility into performance-driven conversions, undervaluing their partnerships, and misallocating spend. Specifically, marketers must address the dual challenges of consumer experience and proper tracking infrastructure. They must eliminate friction for consumers moving from web to app, while ensuring tracking infrastructure remains intact and reliable across web, m-commerce, and in-app events.

Many tracking solutions rely on identifiers like IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers), but privacy changes have made this approach unreliable. Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework now requires user consent, with a majority opting out. Marketers need more resilient ways to track mobile partnerships without losing critical insights.

The Role of SDKs and Mobile Measurement Providers

To ensure accurate tracking of mobile app events, brands have two primary options: Software Development Kits (SDKs) and Mobile Measurement Providers (MMPs). Performance tracking infrastructure may not extend to mobile apps, specifically for tracking in-app events like downloads. So, without dedicated tracking in place, mobile app activity is not reliably tracked. Each approach has its value:

• SDKs: Installed within an app, SDKs provide direct, real-time tracking of in-app events. They offer detailed insights into user interactions and conversion paths and ensure that partners are appropriately credited for their role in outcomes.
• MMPs: These third-party solutions aggregate data from multiple sources, helping brands track mobile activity across different platforms. They often integrate with deep linking technology to ensure seamless user journeys from web to app.

Both options help bridge the gap between mobile web and in-app experiences, ensuring that consumer activity and transactions are accurately tracked and attributed. The choice between SDKs and MMPs depends on factors such as ease of integration, long-term maintenance, and the need for cross-channel attribution.

Why Accurate Tracking Matters on Mobile

Without persistent mobile, m-commerce, and in-app tracking, brands risk:

• Data Fragmentation: Failing to implement mobile tracking infrastructure risks unreliable data, making data-driven decision-making and spending optimization impossible.
• Underreported Conversions: Without proper attribution, brands may undervalue partners or performance channels that drive in-app activity and transactions, mobile app installs, purchases, or subscriptions.
• Inequitable partner rewards. Mobile tracking solutions are necessary to ensure that your data is accurate and reliable, support partner optimization, and automate the deployment of equitable partner rewards in exchange for value provided. 
• Limited optimization Opportunities: When mobile events aren’t captured correctly, potential optimizations, such as dynamic commission structures based on mobile behaviors, go unrealized. When consumers shift from mWeb to app activities, the likelihood of inconsistent tracking increases, which creates data silos between the partner channel and mobile experience. 

Steps to Ensure Accurate, Persistent Mobile Partner Tracking

1. Evaluate Your Current Tracking Setup: Audit whether existing systems effectively capture mobile, m-commerce, and in-app events. Identify gaps in tracking that could lead to inaccurate reporting and attribution.
2. Identify and Integrate the Right Technology: Talk to your performance marketing provider about their mobile and in-app tracking solutions, or consider leveraging a third-party to meet your business’s needs. Don’t forget to review vendors already integrated with your performance marketing platform to simplify onboarding. 
3. Focus on the User Journey: Enable a cohesive path to purchase for consumers without sacrificing tracking capabilities with an SDK or MMP that supports seamless transitions from mobile web to in-app experiences.
4. Test and Iterate: Regularly analyze performance data to refine tracking strategies and optimize partner incentives.

The Future of Mobile Tracking

As mobile-first commerce continues to evolve to suit shifting consumer preferences, tracking solutions must keep pace to ensure accurate, persistent tracking from web to mobile experience. Brands that invest in persistent, complementary, or additive tracking methods will be better positioned to maximize their partnership marketing efforts. With the proper infrastructure, affiliate and partnership teams can confidently scale mobile initiatives while ensuring that every conversion is appropriately tracked and attributed.

Accurate mobile tracking is partly about measurement. It’s mainly about unlocking the full potential of partnership marketing in an app-driven world.

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Yugabyte, the distributed SQL database experts, today announced new vector search, PostgreSQL, and multi-modal functionality to meet the growing needs of AI developers all in one, ultra-resilient distributed database. YugabyteDB is the industry’s leading AI-ready, multi-modal distributed PostgreSQL database designed for business-critical applications with built-in resilience, seamless scalability, and flexible geo-distribution.

This release introduces groundbreaking new capabilities that allow organizations to run more effective and future-proof GenAI and AI-powered apps, including:

• YugabyteDB MCP Server for seamless AI-powered experiences in applications
• Support for LangChain, OLLama, LlamaIndex, AWS Bedrock, and Google Vertex AI
• Multi-modal API support with the addition of MongoDB API support for scaling MongoDB workloads in addition to PostgreSQL (YSQL) and Cassandra (YCQL)
• Online upgrades and downgrades across major PostgreSQL versions with zero downtime
• Enhanced PostgreSQL compatibility with generated columns, foreign keys on partitioned tables, and multi-range aggregates
• Built-in Connection Pooling that can support tens of thousands of connections per node.

PostgreSQL has become the database of choice for developers and enterprises, and YugabyteDB provides one of the most PostgreSQL-compatible enterprise-grade, cloud-native databases on the market. However, developers building modern AI applications need more than a familiar database.

“Today’s launch is another key step in our quest to deliver the database of choice for developers building mission-critical AI-powered applications,” said Karthik Ranganathan, co-founder and CEO, Yugabyte. “As we continuously enhance YugabyteDB’s compatibility with PostgreSQL, the expanded multi-modal support, a new YugabyteDB MCP server, and wider integration with the AI ecosystem provide AI app developers with the tools and flexibility they need for future success.”

Multi-modal API support across YSQL, YCQL, and MongoDB, workloads, and vector indexing and search with a YugabyteDB MCP server means organizations can now build and deploy highly resilient, “ready-to-scale” RAG, and AI-powered applications with 99.99% or higher uptime using familiar PostgreSQL and powerful vector search capabilities architected for 1 billion+ vectors. At the same time, YugabyteDB Aeon eliminates the complexity of managing AI workloads and delivers the performance and durability that mission-critical applications demand.

Discover more about the new YugabyteDB functionality for ultra-resilient AI apps in this blog.

The latest version of YugabyteDB will be showcased at Distributed SQL Summit Asia on July 24, 2025. This event will explore how distributed SQL is transforming application development and enterprise scalability, enabling organizations to build resilient, globally distributed applications with ease. Register for the event here and watch Yugabyte co-founder Karthik Ranganathan’s opening keynote on architecting ultra-resilient, enterprise-grade AI applications that meet the demands of modern workloads.

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Liftoff, an AI-enabled growth platform for the mobile app economy, today announced the launch of AppRefinery, a first-of-its-kind intelligence platform offering strategic insights into the world’s most successful consumer apps. Following the success of GameRefinery, the leading analytics platform for mobile games, AppRefinery brings the same depth of insight to the broader consumer app ecosystem. 

AppRefinery is built for app developers and marketing teams looking to understand what drives real-world engagement. The platform utilizes Liftoff’s custom user motivation model to identify the features and strategies that improve user experience and retention, drive revenue, and maximize return on investment. Powered by proprietary AI curation and refined by expert mobile app analysts, each overview features annotated screenshots, first-time user-experience walkthroughs, and breakdowns of key engagement mechanics.

AppRefinery provides in-depth overviews of popular consumer apps across over 20 different consumer app verticals, including e-commerce, real-money gaming, iGaming, social, and utility. Working in harmony with Liftoff’s monetization and performance marketing tools, AppRefinery turns competitive intelligence into actionable campaigns, empowering teams with a holistic strategy for super-charged app growth.

Brendan Fraher, General Manager of Liftoff Intelligence, said, “In today’s competitive app ecosystem, understanding user engagement is not just an advantage—it’s a necessity. We’ve created a platform that equips developers with deep insights into the engagement mechanics that will help them build better apps.” 

Also Read: Is Intercom’s AI CX Score the End of CSAT?

Jackson Shuttleworth, Group Product Manager at Duolingo, said: “Keeping up with competitive trends in both consumer apps and mobile games is crucial for our product team. We’ve been long-time partners with Liftoff and now, with AppRefinery, we have an even more powerful tool set to drive our strategy forward.” 

Together, GameRefinery and AppRefinery form Liftoff Intelligence—a unified suite of AI-powered tools delivering competitive, behavioral, and feature-level insights across more than 100,000 mobile apps and games. For more information about AppRefinery and its features, visit the Liftoff website or schedule a demo with the team. 

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REPLUG, a full-service mobile app marketing agency, is proud to announce its official certification as a Certified Moloco Partner. This milestone marks a deepened collaboration between REPLUG and Moloco, a global leader in machine learning–powered performance advertising.

The certification reflects REPLUG’s commitment to excellence in programmatic advertising and its ability to drive scalable growth for mobile apps across verticals.

“Our certification with Moloco strengthens what we already do best at REPLUG: deliver real results through strategic, high-impact user acquisition,” said Lorenzo Rossi, co-founder of REPLUG, “we’re proud to be recognized as a trusted partner and excited for what’s ahead.”

To achieve this status, the REPLUG team underwent extensive training, successfully completing Moloco’s partner certification exam, which covered platform capabilities, machine learning strategies, and performance optimization best practices.

“At REPLUG, we focus on performance, not just promises. Partnering with Moloco equips us with the best-in-class machine learning tech to drive measurable results at scale,” added Luca Mastrorocco, co-founder of REPLUG, “this partnership reinforces our mission to stay ahead of the curve in the mobile industry.”

As a Certified Partner, REPLUG now offers clients exclusive access to deeper Moloco platform insights, tailored support, and more advanced tools to optimize programmatic campaigns and unlock new market opportunities.

Also Read: AI Is Transforming Email Marketing in 2025: What You Need to Know

“At Moloco, we believe in the power of great partnerships, so I’m incredibly excited to welcome REPLUG to our certified agency family,” said Mateo Delgado, Senior Director of Growth at Moloco, “they’ve shown a clear commitment to driving true incremental performance for their clients through our product, and I look forward to delivering continued impact together.”

With this partnership, REPLUG strengthens its programmatic advertising capabilities, giving clients smarter UA strategies, more efficient campaign setup, and better visibility into ROI, all while maintaining a human-first, performance-driven approach.

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TikTok bookended its presentation at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s NewFronts Tuesday with a pledge that its app will stick around, addressing a potential ban that threatens its business in the key U.S. market. The NewFronts, an annual showcase where publishers pitch marketers on their latest content and ad innovations, again arrive at a challenging moment for the social media platform, which has faced mounting data-privacy scrutiny over its ties to China while remaining immensely popular, with 170 million U.S. monthly active users.

“I want to say this very clearly, and I want to say this from my heart: TikTok is here. We are here,” said Vice President of Global Business Solutions Khartoon Weiss at the top of a packed show emceed by comedian Hasan Minhaj. 

“If there’s one thing I want you to take away, it is that we are absolutely confident in our platform and confident in the future of this platform, so we’re going to continue to invest in it,” added Weiss, who was recently promoted to lead ad sales in North America and used the moment to tout TikTok’s bigger ambitions in areas like search. 

The Trump administration has already twice delayed a deadline for finding a U.S. backer for TikTok, and has indicated it may do so again soon. As a regulatory crackdown remains up in the air, the NewFronts were a moment for TikTok to allay the concerns of advertisers that make its revenue engine hum, though analysis shows the divestiture conundrum has yet to produce an industry retreat. Forecasts say TikTok’s ad revenue will rise 24.5% year over year to $32.4 billion in 2025, assuming the service doesn’t go dark in the U.S.

Underpinning its focus on reassurance, the ByteDance-owned company’s NewFronts led not with the usual parade of advertising products and programming, but a talk by Head of Trust and Safety Suzy Loftus. Loftus championed TikTok’s brand suitability and content moderation initiatives amid a war on “bad actors,” including $2 billion worth of investments and tens of thousands of employees around the world.

“We are held to a higher standard because of the impact we have on culture and the strength of the community that we have built,” said Loftus, later calling out “rigorous oversight” for TikTok’s U.S. data from Oracle and third-party inspectors. Oracle was previously considered a front-runner for taking over the business. 

Also Read: Visa Bets Big on AI Commerce, Unveils New Partnerships and Innovations

Broadening scope with search

Advertising eventually did take center stage, with TikTok emphasizing strengths in capturing cultural moments like the Super Bowl through its Pulse suite of solutions that situate brands near trending, premium content. The company also detailed its agenda around search, a category where it has taken market share from players like Google, particularly among Gen Z consumers, but is relatively nascent in regards to advertising. 

“We are so excited to shape that new arena together, because this is a new model. We’re going to have to invent social search together,” said Weiss. “People haven’t redone [search] in decades.” 

Executives positioned the expansion as part of TikTok’s bid to mature its business and increase sophistication for marketers. TikTok at the NewFronts unveiled a Sponsorship Solutions product that allows brands to curate experiences, storytelling and interactive content around specific search keywords. Sponsorship Solutions will factor into a new partnership with Live Nation around a channel called The Submix, with a focus on promoting concert tickets and merchandise to fans exploring artists on the app known for boosting songs to viral heights.

“With these tools, brands aren’t just becoming part of the conversation, they’re leading it, especially during those tentpole moments and cultural conversations,” said Emily Freed, general manager of U.S. agency at TikTok. Freed added that Sponsored Solutions in early tests saw higher engagement and recall than other ad formats, without divulging specific figures.

Also Read: AI’s Human Paradox: Emotion Trumps Algorithm

‘Out of phone’ content and generative AI

TikTok also detailed plans to move further beyond the in-app experience to establish a better foothold in categories like live sports that are a reliable draw for ad budgets and fostering fan connections. 

“We’re building a robust sponsorship package series that goes beyond the screen,” said Freed. 

For instance, TikTok is evolving its Beauty Month program this year to feature “out of phone” content and in-person creator gatherings themed around women in sports. It is also taking over the Las Vegas Strip for the upcoming Formula 1 Grand Prix through onsite activations that will complement those running online through Pulse Premiere, which gives brands choice placement around videos from top publishers. Pulse Premiere is adding Formula 1, Red Bull Media and Warner Bros. Discovery to a roster that already includes names like Disney, NBCUniversal and Paramount.

In addition, TikTok is integrating generative artificial intelligence into its Pulse Core offering tailored toward user-generated fare with a Custom Lineups tool that helps surface relevant videos by category, occasion or holiday. Closing out the roadshow, Weiss returned to sentiments she shared at the start, emphasizing stability even as TikTok faces down potentially massive disruption.      

“Our advertising business will not change,” said Weiss. “We remain open for business and we [will] stay streaming.”

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Liftoff, a global leader in performance marketing and monetization solutions for the app economy, announced that private equity funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”) signed an agreement to sell a minority stake in Liftoff to General Atlantic, a leading global investor. As part of the terms of the transaction, long-time investor Blackstone will remain as the majority shareholder.

Liftoff is a leading AI-enabled end-to-end platform that enables mobile developers to build, drive discovery of, and monetize their apps. Blackstone drove the formation of the company from the transformative merger of its portfolio companies Liftoff and Vungle in 2021, which combined two scaled and highly complementary industry leaders. Following the merger, Liftoff has grown rapidly under CEO Jeremy Bondy and the current management team through an expanded portfolio of solutions and industry-leading product and technical innovation.

General Atlantic has a long history of investing in disruptive consumer technology businesses. General Atlantic will join Blackstone in supporting Liftoff’s next phase of growth as it scales its proprietary Cortex AI platform, builds on its leadership across the broader app economy, and looks to add capabilities through strategic M&A.

Also Read: Visa Bets Big on AI Commerce, Unveils New Partnerships and Innovations

Jeremy Bondy, CEO of Liftoff, said: “This moment represents a potent combination of continuity and ambition. Our partnership with Blackstone has been transformative – over the past three years, we’ve merged Liftoff and Vungle, launched Cortex, and delivered significant momentum. The investment from General Atlantic is a testament to that progress, marking the next phase of our ascent and reinforcing our leadership across performance-driven mobile growth. While I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, we’re still in the early innings of growth in a large and rapidly evolving category, with a team built for this moment and the rare opportunity to shape its future. We look forward to building the leading platform for the largest and fastest growing media environment in the world: the mobile phone.”

Tanzeen Syed, Managing Director and Head of Consumer Internet and Technology at General Atlantic, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Jeremy and his management team to 

help fulfill Liftoff’s vision of serving the mobile app ecosystem and continuing to power growth through its combination of innovative AI technology, superior execution, and unwavering customer centricity. Liftoff has reached an exciting business inflection point, and we look forward to providing support alongside Blackstone, who have shepherded the Company through a transformative period.”

Sachin Bavishi, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “It has been a pleasure to work alongside Jeremy and the entire management team over the past five years through Liftoff’s evolution into a leading mobile app growth platform. This investment is a prime example of Blackstone’s approach to partnering with highly talented management teams and deeply supporting them with value-added resources and expertise to drive material business transformation and outsized results for all stakeholders. We are thrilled to continue this journey with Liftoff and welcome General Atlantic as a new investor as we jointly support the company’s rapid growth trajectory.” 

Also Read: Can AI Turn MarTech Into a Mind Reader?

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and Jefferies LLC are serving as financial advisors and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is acting as legal advisor to Liftoff and Blackstone. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor and Paul Weiss is serving as legal advisor to General 

Atlantic. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions and is expected to close in mid-2025. 

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Ant International’s WorldFirst—an all-in-one digital cross-border payment and treasury account service for global businesses—has launched World Card, a Mastercard-enabled virtual card solution designed to help SMEs grow by simplifying global transactions and lowering operational costs.

Small businesses stand to benefit from the e-commerce boom, whose market size is projected to reach US$12.9 trillion in 2032 with a 13.65% CAGR. However, a Deloitte-WorldFirst report has found that they also face challenges to capitalize on the broad industry potential, including high entry barriers, rising operational costs, and fierce competition.

Having empowered over one million SMEs to scale their businesses internationally, WorldFirst has partnered with Mastercard to develop for World Card the following customized features to enhance global operational efficiency for customers:

• Global coverage across regions and use scenarios: Customers can pay with World Card for purchases anywhere Mastercard is accepted, in 150+ currencies across 210+ countries and regions. There are no foreign exchange fees in cross-border payments with 15 major currencies when paying from WorldFirst account balance, including USD, CNH, EUR, GBP, JPY, SGD HKD, AUD, NZD, and CAD. The service covers most recurring business scenarios, ranging from digital marketing on e-commerce sites, software subscriptions, shipping and logistics.
• Security: World Card has obtained the highest-level certification of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), uses 3DS/AVS transaction verifications, 24/7 real-time assistance, and spending limits to safeguard transactions and prevent fraud.
• Transparent and centralized multi-card management: Customers may create multiple cards for specific expenses, teams or projects later this year. All spending can be tracked in one central dashboard, enabling precise control over expenditure.
• Cashback rewards program*: Cashback on every eligible payment helps customers save and grow.

The World Card complements the comprehensive offerings on the World Account, WorldFirst’s flagship product offering global payment, collection, foreign exchange conversion, and treasury management from a single account.

Also Read: AI in Marketing: Balance Tech with Human Touch for Impact

The World Card will be fully rolled out to markets across Asia, Europe, Oceania, and Africa in 2025. In the coming months, it will also begin to support Apple Pay and Google Pay.

A physical World Card is coming in 2025, enabling in-person transactions while serving as a backup when digital payments aren’t possible. The physical card retains the digital version’s benefits, including multi-currency support, cashback and security through unified platform management – while ensuring compatibility with chip-card POS terminals.

“With the launch of the World Card, WorldFirst and Mastercard are giving ambitious businesses a smarter way to manage spending. Today’s small businesses often have global ambitions, but outdated payment processes can hold them back. The new solution offers the ease, security, and international reach they need to scale without borders. Together, we’re helping them simplify operations, stay on top of spending, and expand into new markets,” says Jane Prokop, executive vice president and global head of small and medium enterprises at Mastercard.

“WorldFirst enables business growth by delivering solutions featuring global coverage, secure transactions and operational efficiency—essential foundations for SMEs’ success in today’s digital economy. We look forward to deepening our collaboration with Mastercard and industry leaders to pioneer innovative solutions like World Card, empowering SMEs and drive inclusive growth,” says Clara Shi, CEO of WorldFirst and vice president of Ant International.

Also Read: Rewriting the Rules: Gen Z, Authenticity, and the Future of Loyalty

WorldFirst is part of Ant International, a leading global digital payment, digitisation and financial technology provider offering a unified techfin platform to unlock next-gen commerce for all.

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CleverTap, the all-in-one engagement and retention platform, today announced the acquisition of rehook.ai, a Y Combinator-backed startup. rehook.ai offers a promotions automation solution, empowering businesses to manage coupons, discounts, gamification, loyalty programs, and referral initiatives. This acquisition strengthens CleverTap’s complete suite for customer retention, merging analytics, engagement, and promotions into a single unified offering.

With rehook.ai now part of CleverTap, brands can unlock an enhanced ability to create, distribute, track, and optimize diverse promotional campaigns—ultimately increasing conversions and improving user retention. Brands will be able to address a broader range of customer needs throughout the user lifecycle—from initial acquisition and onboarding to retention and loyalty. The addition of rehook.ai’s real-time promotional data will also enhance CleverTap customers’ ability to trigger timely offers based on user behavior and context, resulting in more meaningful customer relationships.

Also Read: AI in Marketing: Balance Tech with Human Touch for Impact

Anand Jain, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, CleverTap, said, “We’re excited to welcome rehook.ai to the CleverTap family. This acquisition enhances our engagement ecosystem, helping businesses drive retention with greater precision. This allows us to unlock multiple use cases across industries like gaming, retail, and financial services. It not only strengthens our ability to support businesses in crafting deeply personalized, AI-driven experiences but also opens up new opportunities for cross-selling and upselling integrated promotions management. Ultimately, it’s about helping our customers maximize lifetime value, drive sustainable growth, and build stronger, more loyal relationships with their users.”

Akhil Suhag, CEO and Co-founder at rehook.ai, added, “We started with a vision of helping businesses make promotions smarter, more dynamic, and truly impactful. Now, as we join forces with CleverTap, we have the scale and reach to bring this vision to a global audience. Beyond that, their deep expertise in segmentation, real-time analytics, and engagement will enhance how we power personalized promotions, making them even more effective. Together, we’re setting a new standard for AI-driven, deeply personalized marketing that delivers measurable business impact.”

Also Read: Is Gmail’s AI Search a Game-Changer or a Privacy Nightmare?

With this acquisition, CleverTap continues to demonstrate its commitment to evolving beyond pure engagement tools—creating a complete customer retention ecosystem that unites data, insights, and incentives within one powerful framework.

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Liftoff, the leading provider of marketing, monetization, and creative solutions for the mobile industry, and AppsFlyer, the global leader in marketing measurement, attribution, and data analytics, have published their 2025 App Marketer Survey.

The report—which includes data from Sensor Tower, the leading source of mobile app, digital advertising, retail media, and audience insights—analyzes the responses of over 700 mobile marketing professionals from across multiple regions and app verticals, working with monthly ad budgets ranging from $50,000 to over $1,000,000.

Liftoff and AppsFlyer’s 2025 App Marketer Survey provides a holistic look into how app marketing professionals react to industry changes and technological innovations affecting the mobile ecosystem. It also provides insights into ad spend budgets, performance trends across various app categories, and how mobile marketers allocate resources to achieve their goals in the year ahead.

Key findings include:

Non-gaming apps are experiencing strong growth in downloads and revenue

Downloads of apps from non-gaming app categories increased by 12% in 2024, while consumer spending grew by $13.7 billion over 2023 to $69.2 billion. Entertainment apps saw the biggest revenue increase, at $4.4 billion year over year. Comparatively, the performance of gaming apps remained relatively flat, with a slight 1% decline in revenue generated by in-app purchases. 

Mobile marketers are navigating demanding KPIs, but still hitting performance targets

Over half of mobile app marketers (54%) report more aggressive KPI targets compared to 12 months ago, with those based in North America and Latin America more likely to set aggressive targets (61%). Around 90% of respondents stated they were close to or reaching these challenging goals. In terms of KPIs, 50% cited return on ad spend (ROAS) as their top priority.

Also Read: AI’s Rise: Fueled by Advertising Dollars

To achieve their goals, mobile marketers are looking to new partners and channels

Around 56% of marketers stated they had established new partnerships over the past 12 months, an increase of over 14% compared to last year. This seems to be a direct response to more demanding KPIs, with 74% stating they sought out new partners to improve ROAS/ROI. In the same vein, many marketers are also looking to alternative channels, with over half of respondents investing in both organic social and influencer marketing.

Despite the challenges that await, marketers are optimistic about the year ahead

Most mobile marketers feel the industry is heading in the right direction, with 80% of respondents expecting 2025 to be an improvement, or at least the same, as 2024. One explanation for this positivity is a boost to resources. Nearly half of all respondents said they’re working with a larger budget in 2025, with 15% reporting a significant increase.

Apple’s AdAttributionKit responds to ongoing interest in re-engagement

Immediately after ATT, re-engagement campaigns on iOS seemed to face an uncertain future—but Apple’s AdAttributionKit looks like it may be changing all that. While only 31% reported currently running re-engagement campaigns on iOS, 48% of respondents said they would like to start. Overall, 67% of respondents cited at least some familiarity with AAK. 

Three years on from launch, marketer’s struggles with SKAN continue

Despite several years having passed since its launch, marketers remain divided on whether SKAN’s impact on performance: 32% felt SKAN had no impact on UA at all, 30% thought it had actually negatively impacted results, while only 24% stated they had seen a noticeable positive uplift. What mobile marketers were much more certain about was generative AI, with 54% of respondents citing its benefits to creative production and optimization.

Joey Fulcher, SVP, Global Demand Sales at Liftoff, said:

“According to marketer responses, KPIs are becoming more aggressive year-over-year, and across the board, UA performance is keeping up despite a competitive environment. 90% of those surveyed say that they are close to or reaching their KPIs. This speaks to the speed and depth of innovation in ad tech.

As ML models evolve, they can accommodate more customized requirements. The latest ML models can more effectively target audiences that are likely to engage with the unique features of different apps. This leads to more conversions and improves retention. As ad budgets grow in 2025 and marketers evaluate where to allocate their spend, they should look for partners with a customized approach and robust technology offerings capable of delivering top performance.”

Also Read: Salesforce in Advanced Talks to Buy Informatica

Shani Rosenfelder, Director of Global Content Strategy and Market Insights at AppsFlyer, said:

“App marketers are approaching 2025 with a sense of measured optimism. With 80% expecting stable or improved performance, the focus is on refining strategies that balance growth with efficiency. As budgets expand, marketers continue reassessing how they allocate resources, exploring a mix of acquisition and retention efforts to drive long-term value. AI and advanced data-driven insights are becoming more central to campaign decision-making, helping teams navigate an increasingly complex landscape.

At the same time, challenges persist. More than half of marketers report working with more aggressive KPIs, reflecting the pressure to maintain profitability while scaling. Moving forward, success will depend on thoughtful investments in cutting-edge measurement and optimization, creative effectiveness, and cross-team collaboration to ensure marketing efforts remain both impactful and sustainable. The State of App Marketing Survey provides valuable insights into these trends, helping marketers benchmark their strategies and navigate an increasingly complex landscape.”

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A profit of $5 in his PayPal account got Joel Gascoigne so excited that the floorboards creaked as he jumped around his room. This was a promising beginning for Buffer, the social media management startup, four days after its launch in 2010.

In 2014, Buffer was offered a nine-figure offer from an undisclosed company. Serving as a green flag for the wonders the company could do, Gascoigne, the Buffer CEO, and co-founder Leo Widrich reflected on their business vision and goals. Although the acquisition could have been a life-changing decision, the duo believed there was more growth and greater achievements to be celebrated. And they were right.

“Here I am six years later, still energized and happy with my gradual return, so overall, I believe that worked out,” wrote Gascoigne in a post.

REWIND: Idea Buffering…

The year was 2010, and Twitter enthusiast Gascoigne enjoyed conversing with his followers. Aspiring to increase online engagement, he posted five dedicated tweets daily. But keeping track of the time stamp on a notepad frustrated him, so the idea of Buffer began to take shape.

He began to read about the lean startup methodology and figured that the key to a successful startup would be testing relevant audiences. He created a simple landing page and shared it with his then 1,700 Twitter followers. He tracked the metrics and listened to what his possible customers had to say.

Some said they wouldn’t use it, some did not understand it, while others were excited. Gascoigne added a third page to determine if people would pay to use it. Some found it absurd, while others were willing. With first-party data research, the founders finally created the full product.

Having no expertise in building an Android or an iPhone application, they settled for a simple web application and a Chrome extension. The product was launched in seven weeks with limited features and access to Twitter. They witnessed 100 sign-ups along with three paying customers in the first month. Reaching Ramen profitability in early 2011, Gascoigne reduced his contract development work and focused on Buffer.

Buffer Troubles

After hitting 20,000 users in 2011, they packed their bags and moved their workstations from the UK to San Francisco. Buffer turned from a scheduling application to a social media management platform. As expats in the US, the founders had trouble raising funds when they began to run out of money.

Although they were refused by 88% of potential investors they approached, with enough perseverance, Buffer totaled 18 investors in 2011 and raised $450,000 to help build the company. Around that time, the platform began to offer social media services on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Google+, apart from Twitter.

The company faced another challenge in 2013 – a security breach. While the vulnerability was patched and security was strengthened, Buffer inspected the breach and reported that the backdoor was created by its partners MongoHQ and GitHub.

Hackers could impersonate employees and gain admin access to view buffer information. The breach was a wake-up call for Buffer to strengthen security. The team added encryption of OAuth access tokens and changed all API calls to use an added security parameter.

One of their most recent challenges was when the company had to use almost half of its money in the bank to buy out the main venture capital investors in 2018. This decision was made due to a series of events — from profitability issues, slow growth rate, departure of Widrich, and Gascoigne’s firm decision to not compromise on their work culture.

Also Read: How AI and Data Analytics Are Transforming Customer Experience

Buffer Culture

Customer opinion and customer satisfaction matter a great deal to the company. In fact, 25% of the team is dedicated to customer support, including engineers who might understand users’ issues with their built features, which might help them create better products.

Buffer also includes a monthly Happiness report of insights and analytics that help them meet customer expectations. For instance, in 2013, the company recorded 4,335 e-mail conversations, answered 52% of emails within an hour, and had a 98% customer satisfaction turnout. Winning over 1,000,000 users, the team committed itself to enhancing CX with tools such as Help Scout and Sparkcentral.

Since 2015, Buffer has been known for its transparency. They disclosed employee salaries and equity, exposed company financials, revealed how customers’ payments are used, and surfaced internal metrics. We checked out its transparent revenue dashboard, and it revealed that the company’s current annual run rate is over $20 million. It’s a refreshing company culture; their marketing strategies are no different.

The Buffed Marketing Plan

The Buffer blog was created in January 2011 with a content marketing strategy. From three articles a month to four a week, marketing their new features through content marketing helped them gain visibility. Soon, Buffer had over 45 guest writers to keep up with the demand. Collaborating with the AngelPad platform, posts became a daily affair, and some hit 8000 shares. The team journeyed from zero to over 1.5 million monthly visits.

Meanwhile, the marketing team expanded from the US and Canada to the UK and Singapore, focused on keeping up with the marketing trends and technology for better visual planning and scheduling of social media campaigns.

Building its tool stack, the company added over 60 martech tools by 2017 to drive engagement, coordinate creativity, and enhance social media relationships. The Buffer marketers use Trello for organization, Looker for data, Sketch for design, Dropbox Paper for collaboration, Ulysses writing tool, Pocket curation tool, Placeit graphics tool, and Okta for security.

Bufferful Kit

Nike handles over 1,000,000 conversations per year across 200 different social media accounts. Blank Tag Co., a smaller business that began from $0, generated more than $100,000 yearly from just Instagram ads. For research, the Buffer content team talks to several companies whose social media game leads them to the top of the ladder.

Besides being Facebook’s marketing partner under Community Management, Pinterest, and LinkedIn’s marketing partner, Buffer has ties with various software applications and companies, including WordPress, Twitter, Zapier, Feedly, Reeder, Quuu, and Pocket. Over the years, they also launched several tools and features for a better customer experience.

In 2018, Buffer introduced Stories Creator, a free tool to help users create graphics in minutes. The tool features an Instagram Stories UI overlay for previews. In 2019, Buffer launched a Hashtag Manager tool to help customers organize hashtags by creating and saving groups directly within the Buffer composer.

Apart from their publishing and engagement tools, Buffer introduced LinkedIn Analytics in 2020. In collaboration with LinkedIn, the feature allows customers to understand what’s working for brands and get better results on the professional social media network.

In August 2021, Buffer collaborated with Canva to allow customers to download images from Canva and design, create, and publish posts without leaving the Buffer platform.

More recently, in October 2021, Buffer launched the Start Page. Combined with its social media tools, the Start Page tool allows customers to generate a landing page and URL, complete with a product showcase, content, events, and announcements, all from one link.

Also Read: Understanding Composable Tech Stack

The Buffered Acquisitions

In 2012, Buffer made its first acquisition, Sharefeed, and hired CEO Hiten Shah as a mentor. Buffer utilized Sharefeed’s user flow and engagement data, including retention and activation metrics. A Buffer extension was rolled out, allowing users to “buffer” directly from Facebook or Twitter platforms.

Buffer acquired Respondly, a social media customer service and brand monitoring tool, in 2015 to build a social media customer service product. Rebranding it as Buffer Reply, it became a standalone tool for social media customer support, engagement, community, and monitoring.

Although Reply brought the initial success of monthly revenue $4k to over $70k at its peak, Buffer realized that the need for customer service on social media was less widespread and had not developed as they had imagined. So, they dropped Reply in 2020 and have focused on social engagement since then.

What’s Buffering?

Although the pandemic brought around the worst churn rate for Buffer as businesses struggled to survive, the decline eased, and growth rates have stabilized. The social media platform is eyeing sustainability and profitability.

We looked at Buffer’s transparent product roadmap on Trello, and it’s both unusual and exciting to be able to see their behind-the-scenes plans in tabs such as “In Progress”, “Done!”, and “Exploring”.

The Buffer team is working on an improved version of the Calendar to help customers plan their posts better. Also, work is still underway to create a free landing page. The company has other prospects in its to-do list, including LinkedIn Tagging, Native LinkedIn videos, Instagram grid previews, better previews of posts, and more integrations for importing content.

While they contend with popular platforms such as Sprinklr, Sprout Social, Clickable Inc, SocialFlow, and BuzzSumo, Buffer’s USP is transparent culture, affordability, and vision for long-term sustainability with enhanced CX. Serving seven million users and helping 75,000 brands worldwide, including Microsoft, Huckberry, GitHub, Shopify, and Trello, the Buffer journey might just get bigger and better.

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